Thank you! They have square corners. I de-cornered them if anyone was thinking the corners looked a bit odd...

Quote:

Originally Posted by Evie

How many cards does your Dukes of Tuscany have Le Fanu?

It is a standard 52 card deck.

ETA; Oh and let's not forget the exuberant exoticism of the Modiano Tarocchi di Alan, another favourite. I tend to use only the pip cards of this one, like a normal deck of cards (using the Knight as the Jack) but the majors are pretty vivid too!

I have only one to show off, but it's a real beauty. And I know very little about it. It was given to me by an old roommate. That was around 1990 and the cards were already old-looking then (though only the box shows much wear). I assume it's Ukrainian, like my roommate, based on the writing on the box. But it could be Russian or something else; I can't read what it says.

I looked on the Playing Card Museum website and didn't find one like it, though I could have missed it -- there are so many decks there and the thumbnails are so small.

Here are some pics. First one shows the back, joker, and an ace. Then the court cards, which I find very beautiful. Then two of the box, front and back. The picture on the front of the box has an out-of-focus candle, which I like to think suggests cartomancy And it wasn't till I photographed it today that I noticed the cards in the picture are from a different deck!

I received the Prospero Art Alice in Wonderland deck today... what a joy to hold and behold! slightly smaller than a Bicycle poker size deck... nice stock, nice finish, they feel good in my hand. Each card has a different picture and quote... I need to read/study all!

Buy it quick. I am seeing it around less and less and I was surprised to discover the other day that it was reissued by Modiano in 1982 or something which means these decks have been hanging around for years and could dry up any day soon! And Laura, your superb Russian deck reminded me; one of my favourite playing card decks (I only have 5 absolute favourites, I promise) is what is known as the Slav Costumes playing card deck, published by Fournier as Traditional Russian Playing Cards. It was originally published by the State Printing Works of Leningrad in 1928 and a while back I picked up a 1st edition (actually from Russia, from 1928.) for about 8 GBP on ebay. I love this classic deck and have various copies of the various editions.

Oh and before I finally shut up - I swear - there is the Russisches Tiertarock, an early 19th Century Russian deck (reissued by Piatnik a while back) which has real and mythic beasts but the pips are stunning and can be taken out and used on their own (which I do). I just love this deck (too )...

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